The Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety will never have enough staff to be every place on campus at all times. We must rely on the rest of our campus community to report concerns related to health and safety issues.

In order to properly track concerns and follow any corrective measures, we have developed a Safety Concern form. Once we receive a concern form, it is assigned a tracking or case number. An investigator is appointed to the concern case and documents their work on the problem.

If the problem can be resolved, the closed case is then filed for reference. This information assists us in tracking trends, reoccurring problems, and history of past problems for specific areas.

Not all safety concerns can be resolved. If that determination is made, we contact the person who submitted the concern to discuss our findings. Different avenues are reviewed to see if the problem can be addressed from another angle.

Often corrections can be made, but, due to funding, work schedules, and other unforeseen events, the time frame may be extensive. These concern forms are then kept in a "pending" file and updated from time to time.

Some employees resist putting their concerns in writing. State of Ohio Worker's Risk Reduction Commission assures us that employees will suffer no disciplinary action from requesting an investigation of a potential safety concern. We make every attempt to keep the information confidential. Nothing would be released from this department unless approved by Legal Council.

In some cases, the person filing the concern form is basically asking a question about an issue that does not appear to them to be safe or something that makes them feel uncomfortable. We are always happy to answer these concerns and look at the issue.

Your first line of defense against hazards in the workplace is to file a Safety Concern form and allow us to investigate. We rely on you to inform us of issues which could potentially harm you or others. We thank you sincerely for this support.